Assalam alaikum, The following extract gives a brief outline to the structure of the Muslim curriculum in the early days of Islam.
- The starting point of Muslim education The first and foremost duty every new convert to Islam was to learn its teachings, the rituals of prayer and the divine revelation. Muhammad was, in his capacity as the Prophet of God, naturally the most suitable man to be their teacher. He taught them the Quran, guided them in the questions of jurisprudence and explained to them the rather complicated Islamic system of inheritance. We are told that he used to teach his companions as children are taught in the primary schools [Bukhari, Kitab al Dawut, ch 56] This was the beginning of Islamic education. The Quran held the central position from the very outset. The main concern in this age, and for some time to come, was simply to learn the Quran by heart or to preserve its verses by writing them on palm-leaves, bones or stones. The so-called sciences of the Quran (i.e. reading and exegesis of the Quran) were non-existent in those days. The science of Kiraa (recitation) was, as a matter of fact, developed much later. However, the first explanations about the more difficult passages of the Quran came from Prophet Muhammad himself. - Islam and the foreign sciences We have seen in the previous pages that at the time of Islam's dawn there was hardly any educational activity in Arabia. The Arabic language was rich in poetry, but no remarkable prose had been produced as yet [Hitty, Philips, Arabs, pp 402-5]. The science of genealogy (Ilm al Ansab), still in its elementary stages, and the tales of the battle days of the Arabs (Ayyam al Arab, also called Ayyam al Nas) were to them what we call history today [Richter, Medieval Arabic Historiography in Islamic Culture, p 242]. They had some knowledge of astronomy as well. But with the advent of Islam and the revelation of the Quran a new phase began. The Quran, which the Muslims regarded as a divine revelation was soon the center of all activity. Out of this interest in the Quran some of the so-called Islamic sciences came into being [generally called Ulum al Nakliyya or Ulum al Shariya, the traditional or religious sciences]. A brief sketch of their development and of other sciences, which were included in the curriculums, shall be drawn up in the following pages. The sciences which the Arabs learned from the foreign people have been left out here. Al Ulum al Akliyya aw al-Hikmiyya the intellectual or philosophical sciences as they were called, did not contribute to the Islamic curriculum in the first place [they used to be called Ulum al Adjam (the sciences of the foreigners) and Ulum al Kadima (the ancient sciences)]. The orthodox Muslim scholars were against learning such things. However, this attitude was changed later and certain brances of al-Ulum al-Kadima were taken into the curriculum. They were medicine (tibb), geometry (handsa), music (musiki), logic (mantic) and philosophy (falsafa). We only intend to discuss those subjects which the Muslims developed independently out of the Quran and Hadith as a means of understanding them. As a matter of fact, the author of Tarikh Baghdad (T.B.). has not included the biographies of the savants of foreign sciences in his book. He himself belonged to the leading traditionalists of his time and his plan was to record the biographies only of those people, who had something to do with the so-called Islamic sciences. The biographies of a limited number of al-Kuttab, who were generally interested in the foreign sciences were included in T.B. only because of their interest in the Arabic language or some other Islamic science. - Subjects of the Curriculim A. Philology (Ilm al Lugha): The interst of the Muslims in the Quran led them to study the Arabic language [Krenkow, Fritz; The Beginnings of Arabic Lexiography till the time of al-Jauhari, p 255]. The Quran was in fact, the first book ever compiled in Arabic. Its vocabulary has been derived mainly from the vernacular of the tribe of the Quraysh. The words of other dialects and even of foreign origin have found their way into it. So for the first time in the history of Arabia, the tudy and research of the Arabic language began. The scholars spent many years with the Bedouins in al-Badiya (the desert) in order to learn their vernacular. The books they compiled as a result of this research gave birth to the science of Arabic philology or lexicography. The study of this science was later compulsory for every student irrespective of the purpose and the line of his studies. B. Grammar (Ilm al Nabw): The need for grammar was felt very soon, because the non-Arab converts were obliged to learn Arabic. But due to the absence of grammatical rules and regulations they were not able to master it. Even the Arabs themselves were not immune to mistakes. On the face of this situation the pious servants were afraid that the Quran might be interpreted falsely [Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, Makala II, p 59]. With the help of the Quran and the pre-Islamic poetry, which was being compiled in those days, and possibly with some knowledge of Greek grammar, Abu al-Aswad al-Duali (d.69 AH) and others (Ibn Khallikan,Wafayat al Ayan, I, 662) formulated the rules of Arabic grammar [Haywood, Arabic Lexicography, p 17]. C. Rhetoric (Ilm al Balagha): The utmost goal of the scholars researches was to understand the real meaning of the Quranic expressions. The science they developed for this purpose was called the Science of Eloquence (Ilm al Balagha). It was divided into three parts. Al-Maani, al-Bayan, al-Badi. Its practical value for every poet, orator and writer was immense. It taught how to use the right word and the correct expression in the right place. D. Literature (Ilm al-Adab): Poetry and Prose: Poetry: the Arabs have a special talent for poetry. This is as true for the Arabs pre as well as Arabs post Islam. The poetry was appreciated not only by the rich and the learned, but also by common folk. The Muslim scholars collected poems of Bedouin and expecially pre-Islamic poetry in their research to determine the colloquial expressions of the Quran. A savant of the fourth century is reported to have collected 300,000 couplets as local probantes for the expression of the Quran. Both dynasties of the Umayyads and Abbasids patronized the poets, partly because of the caliphs person interest in poetry and party for political reasons. The institution of al-Riwayat (one resembling that of Rhapsodists in Greece) helped promote and cultivate the natural talent of the young poets. Many of the famous poets of the pre-Islamic era and those of later had been Rawiya of others in their youth. The study of past and contemporary poetry was regarded as necessary for every student. The mosques had already opened their doors to the study of this branch in the first century AH [Bukhsh, The educational system of the Muslims in the middle ages, p 447]. The students went to hear diwans (i.e. collections of poetry) of the famous poets from them. They reported it further and exchanged poetry with their fellow-students. It was not unusual for a teacher of hadith or the Quran to recite his poems to the class before or after the lesson. Prose: Prose was, on the other hand, less known to the Arabs [Huart, A history of Arabic literature, pp 31-2]. The scholars of the Islamic sciences were initially not interested in it. It was al-Kuttab, who first developed Arabic prose. They were responsible for the official correspondence, which gave them the opportunity of developing their style. The scholars language (Ulum al-Lisan al-Arabi) followed in their footsteps and produced literature of immortal beauty, the study of which was later included in the curriculum. E: Quranic exegesis (Ilm al-Quran wa al-tafsir): One of the most important sciences of the Muslim curriculum was the science of the Quranic exegesis. Whereas the companions of Muhammad and their sons generally avoided explaining the verses of the Quran, the later scholars did not hesitate in doing so. They even employed their knowledge of the Holy Scripture of Jews and Christians for this purpose. Basically, only the Prophet Muhammad was considered capable of explaining the Quran. Nearly all of the hadith collections contain a chapter of al-Tafsir. The other side of the story is that the experts of philology and rhetoric of the later centuries were more capable of understanding the Quran than their forefathers. The contributions of philologists and grammarians, in this respect, is exceedingly large. The study of this science was indispensable for every jurist and theologist. Likewise, the students of traditions and all those who wanted to guard themselves against heresy were compelled to fathom its depths. F: Readings (Ilm al Kiraa): This cience was concerned with the vocalization of the words of the Quran, as well as its recitation. Ibn Mujahid (d. 392 AH) selected seven readings and got them officially recognized to be the authentic ones: 1. the recitation of Nafi of Medina (d.169 AH) 2. Ibn Kathir of Mecca (d. 120 AH) 3. Ibn Amir of Damascus (d. 118 AH) 4. Abu Amr of Basra (d. 154 AH) 5. Asim of Kufa (d. 128 AH) 6. Hamza of Kufa (d. 158 AH) 7. Kisai of Kufa (d. 189 AH) The study of the readings was not compulsory for every student. Those, who wanted to get a post as Imam or Qari (reciter of the Quran) in a mosque learned this science. It was not necessary to know all seven readings. Ordinarily proficiency in one of them sufficed. G: Tradiths (Ilm al-Hadith): This branch of knowledge deals mainly with the sayings and acts of the Prophet Muhammad. A small number of hs companions had recorded part of his words during his life-time [al-Bukhari, I, Kitab al Ilm, p 41] whereas others were obliged to memorise them. Both of these groups later reported what they had heard from the Prophet Muhammad or seen him do or had observed others do something in the presence of Prophet Muhamamd, who did not stop them. The Prophet Muhammad was, of course, more capable than anyone else to explain the Quran. Likewise, his was the last word about the dogmas of Islam and in the matters of jurisprudence. He knew best how to recite the Quran. He was, at the same time regarded as the most eloquent among the Arabs [al-Shafi said that None but a Prophet thoroughly comprehends a language, Risala, p 13] The collection of the hadith were taken up soon after the death of the Prophet. The first two caliphs were allegedly against any compilation of the hadith before the Quran was compiled (as a single text, as previously it had not been written down as a single text). Caliph Umar even put some of the prominent companions of Prophet Muhammad under house arrest and ordered them to stop reporting any hadith openly [al-Haythami, Majma al Zawaid wa Manba al Fawaid, p 149]. But there were many more companions of the Prophet who had moved out of Mecca and Medina, and settled down in far-off lands. They reported the traditions of the Prophet freely. Al-Qassas (the religious story tellers) were the first who took advantage of the traditions. The biographers of the Prophet and the compilers of the war chronicles used the traditions as well. It was the Umayyad Caliph Umar (d. 102 AH) who said to have issued orders that all of the traditions be noted down before it was too late. The reason for this order seems to have been the missue of the hadith by the religious story tellers. A critical method of testifying the soundness of the hadith was devised in the form of the supplementary sciences of Ilm Asma al al-Rijal (the sciences of the names of the transmitters of hadith). H: Jurisprudence (Ilm al-Fikh): Islamic law is perhaps the most remarkable subject of the Islamic curriculum. Its development already began during the life time of the Prophet who emphasized that it was to be based upon the Quran. The Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad was afterwards recognized as a complimentary source of law. The allowance of individual deduction made it easy for the judges to decide cases when no instructions or precedent in the Quran or Sunnah could be found. The judicial system of the first four Muslim Caliphs and the Umayyads gave Fikh little chance to develop into a level of systematic science. The atmosphere under Abbasids was much more favorable for such developments. This can be seen from the fact that the intensive study of jurisprudence began as late as the second half of the 2nd century AH. All of the four sunni legal schools were founded in the days of the Abbasids. But this does not mean that the Umayyad period was totally barren in this respect. Usual al Fikh (i.e. the principles of law) was an essential part of the law-studies. The subject of al-Fikh was most popular among the students, especially among those who wanted to get judicial posts. The science of al-Fikh was, by the way, the first subject for which separate institutions were founded. The students of law generally remained with one teacher for years. They had to have a thorough knowledge of Quran and al-hadith. Moreover, they had to be very good at Arabic, as this was the language of both Quran and Hadith. I: The science of distributive shares (Ilm al-Faraid): Although the question of distributives shares is a part of al-Fikh, it has long been regarded as a separate science. The reason for this is to be found in the rather complicated system of share-distribution in Islam. The existence of a number of specialists of this branch in every century, who were commonly called al-Faraidi is a proof of al-Faraids separate entity as a science. In numerous cases, the scholars of this science used to hold classes as did the scholars of other sciences. J: Dogmatic theology (Ilm al-Kalam): The science of speculative theology originated after Muhammad. His contribution in this connection was only indirect. The real originators of this science are the Mutazalites. Al-Kalam was possibly influences by Greek and to some extent Indian philosophy. An influence of the Christian theology is possible, as well. The earliest exponent of this science ,was Waqil ibn Ata who lived in the days of the Umayyads. But the days of the real prosperity of the Mutazalites coincide with those of the Abbasids. A number of Abbasid Caliphs accepted some of their dogma; especially that of Khalk al-Quran (i.e. the Quran having been created). They even tried to enforce the belief onto the scholars of their time. It was only after al-Ashari (d. 260 AH) and al-Maturidi (d. 333 AH) had successfully taken up the defense of orthodoxy by the same kind of argumentation as employed by al-Mutazalites that al-Kalam was legitimated by the orthodox scholars. It had been forbidden for the students to argue with the Mutazalites or to learn their method of speculative reasoning [Kitab al Adab al Shariya, II, p 33 where it is reported that Abu Hanifa forbade his students to indulge in it] [Reference: Ahmed, Muslim Education and the scholars social status upto the 5th century (11th century) in light of Tarikh Baghdad, pp 30-9] May Allah have mercy and guide us all, ameen. fi amanillah, wa salam, f ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." 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